GOP nightmare: O'Donnell prevails

The path to a Republican Senate takeover narrowed to the point of vanishing Tuesday night, as marketing consultant Christine O’Donnell upset Rep. Mike Castle in Delaware’s Senate primary and likely dashed the GOP’s hopes of capturing the seat in the process.

Though six other states and the District of Columbia voted in primary elections Tuesday night, the outcome in Delaware had by far the most profound implications for the fall campaign. While Castle was comfortably on track to capture Vice President Joe Biden’s former Senate seat, O’Donnell will enter the general election at a wide disadvantage to the presumptive Democratic nominee, New Castle County Executive Chris Coons.

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Republican leaders in Delaware and Washington worked aggressively to halt O’Donnell’s momentum and the National Republican Senatorial Committee greeted her victory with a terse statement from executive director Rob Jesmer: “We congratulate Christine O’Donnell for her nomination this evening after a hard-fought primary campaign in Delaware.”

Other leading Republicans openly lamented O’Donnell’s win. Karl Rove, appearing on Fox News, immediately declared: “We were looking at eight to nine seats in the Senate. We’re now looking at seven to eight. This is not a race we’re going to be able to win.”

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, O’Donnell 6 six points ahead of Castle, 53 percent to 47 percent. The Associated Press called the race in her favor shortly after 9 p.m.

O’Donnell was written off early in the race against Castle, dismissed by members of both parties as a perennial candidate with a history of embarrassing personal financial problems. But a late endorsement from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, reinforced by hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of independent spending from the conservative Tea Party Express, vaulted her into the lead.

Coons responded to O’Donnell’s nomination with barely veiled exultation, saying in a statement: “I thank Mike Castle for his years of service to the people of Delaware and ask that his supporters embrace my campaign as a way to continue Delaware's tradition of electing moderate, independent voices to the United States Senate.”

“Delawareans need a U.S. Senator focused on creating jobs, not promoting bizarre conspiracy theories and an extreme social agenda. Every leading Delaware Republican knows that Christine O'Donnell is way out of the mainstream,” he said.

The Delaware race was one of numerous contentious primaries unfolding Tuesday night that offered voters a last chance to vent their frustration against incumbent politicians. A second fractious GOP Senate race unfolded in New Hampshire, where former state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte was in a tight battle against late-surging conservative opponent Ovide Lamontagne.

With 83 percent of precincts reporting, Lamontagne had 37.2 percent of the vote to Ayotte’s 38.4 percent – a close duel in a race that Ayotte had long dominated. While Ayotte was a favorite of national GOP leaders and far outpaced Lamontagne on the fundraising front, Lamontagne’s campaign took flight in the final weeks of the race after winning the endorsement of the Union Leader newspaper.

Either Ayotte or Lamontagne is expected to be competitive in the general election against Democratic Rep. Paul Hodes, but Lamontagne’s more conservative profile and shakier fundraising skills could make for a tighter race.

Both Delaware and New Hampshire also hosted competitive primaries for their combined three House seats.